Statistics

Investigation and experiment of radar systems in unmanned aerial vehicles

Author

Erwin Brian Jegaraj

Date of Issue

2016

School

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Abstract

In recent times, there is a growing interest in radars used by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
(UAV). These radars in UAVs are used for a variety purposes such as surveillance &
reconnaissance, interferometry, foliage penetration, environmental monitoring, moving
target indication, etc. However, the two most common usages are to measure distance and
generate a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image. Thus this report begins by discussing
the fundamentals of a radar, in particular a Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave
(FMCW) radar system and how a synthetic aperture can be generated with a small antenna
thereby creating a 2-Dimensional image with a resolution comparable with one generated
by a large antenna. Next, it highlights some of the important modules in a FMCW radar
system and steps taken to improve the accuracy of the system. Finally, the report concludes
by deliberating factors that affected the range calculation in both a controlled and
uncontrolled environment.